Dan Hurley sees a lot of UConn in Florida — but to be the champs, the Gators have to beat the two-time champs

RALEIGH, N.C. — The two-time defending national champion UConn Huskies will attempt on Sunday afternoon to continue the mythic quest for a three-peat, something that has not been accomplished since the NCAA Tournament bracket expanded. But to keep the dream alive Dan Hurley’s squad must take down one of the tournament’s top teams, No. 1 seed Florida, and a Gators squad that looks familiar to the Huskies’ head coach. 

When Hurley sees Florida, he doesn’t just see a team that’s properly rated as one of the top teams in the country, he sees a group that looks like the Husky teams that cut down nets each of the last two seasons. 

“The bigs, it reminds me of kind of what we had with [Adama] Sanogo and [Donovan] Clingan and Samson Johnson these last couple years where they just keep trotting out big, skilled, tenacious two-way players that are all over the glass,” Hurley said. “They’ve got a lot of depth on the perimeter, and they’re old. I mean, they’ve got a lot of great pieces.”

Florida is nearly a double-digit favorite, which makes sense to anybody who watched each team’s separate games Friday — the Gators looked flawless, while UConn was rocky against Oklahoma — but may be jarring to a casual fan dropping in on March Madness. 

Hurley’s praise for the roster construction that Todd Golden and his staff have done at Florida is notable because it really is similar to the work that UConn did putting together some of the pieces from the last two title teams. Last year, starters Tristen Newton (ECU) and Cam Spencer (Loyola Maryland) arrived via the portal and reserve, now starting, guard Hassan Diarra began his career at Texas A&M. UConn evaluated well to find players that would fit around the in-house bigs, and in doing so built a roster that can come at you with waves of size, athleticism and skill. 

That’s exactly how Florida is built, and exactly how Florida has been winning on the road to earning the No. 1 seed in the West Region. 

Consensus All-American guard Walter Clayton started his career at Iona, where he actually faced UConn as a Gael in the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Fellow backcourt starters Alijah Martin (FAU) and Will Richard (Belmont) both started their careers elsewhere as well, though Richard has been in the program since Todd Golden’s first year back in 2022-23. Home-grown bigs Alex Condon and Thomas Hugh were joined in the offseason by Rueben Chinyelu, who was one of the top rebounders and rim protectors in the SEC this year after transferring from Washington State. 

Combined with key rotation pieces like Denzel Aberdeen and Micah Handlogten, Florida overwhelms opponents with waves just like last year’s UConn team. Hurley’s compliments for the Gators’ roster construction come as he considers the future of his own team, setting aside time with his staff to prepare for the opening of the transfer portal on Monday while also preparing the game plan for Sunday’s matchup with Florida.  

Hurley told 60 Minutes that half of UConn’s roster “is at least considering the portal, if not already knows what school they’re going to.” Getting an intimate look at Florida over these last two days is a reminder of what kind of team is required to make a run at a national championship, and maybe exposing some of the shortcomings that have contributed to what could be an end of the three-peat dream. 

But don’t expect a fire-breather like Hurley to roll over. He knows UConn is given long odds to win, but forever the fighter he’s going to try and will his team to a bracket-busting upset. 

“I think there’s honor in fighting and getting to the round of 32 and making somebody put you down in this tournament. to end this run we’ve been on,” Hurley said. “The run we’ve been on — you know, if it wasn’t for all of my antics and viral moments, obviously there would be more focus on just what we’ve accomplished as a program the last three years. It’s been an amazing run, one of the best runs anyone’s had.”

Hurley will use boxing references when discussing college basketball, and sometimes there is the imagery of UConn as the prize fighter who has been carrying the belt for two years. They are the champs until they are defeated, but now comes a bout with a heavyweight that could gain a lot from taking out the Huskies. 

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Todd Golden has improved his win total each season since he arrived at Florida. He and his staff are getting credit from one of the game’s top coaches for their roster construction and evaluation, and now they can get to apply those skills with an SEC budget. The Gators have been yearning for a return to the top since making history of one of the very few programs to win back-to-back national championships in 2006-07. Florida didn’t have this much buzz as a national title contender back in early February, but as other top teams wobbled coming down the stretch the Gators seemed to only get stronger. 

Though they were technically the fourth overall seed, Florida is currently the top favorite behind Duke to win the national championship. Golden acknowledged that the hype and outside noise has changed in recent weeks, and now Florida’s challenge is to learn how to handle success. That’s going to start with being focused on the task at hand defeating a UConn team that’s taken a step back from its recent form, and not being overwhelmed by the moment of being in the ring with the reigning champs. 

Throw haymakers, be relentless, come at the Huskies in waves. This is a chance for a statement win and validation of the potential that the 2025 Gators have in this tournament, which is to be the holding the belt on the last night of the season.